Ranch News
RONA MORRIS WORKMAN
ROCKING W RANCH
The Rocking' W now numbers a
well as one of its assets—or
liabilities. (More information on
that point at some later date.)
Every time the Nehalem in flood
tore out our spring pipe-line and
the Big Boss had to wallow in the
icy waters trying to repair the
break and I had to dip water
out of a rain-barrel or the fish
pool until the river went down
enough to get the irrigation pump
working, we have vowed we were
going to have a well. We always
swore the same thing when the
Bpring went dry in the summer.
Several months ago the smaller
section of a well-drilling outfit
came into this region and we fell
upon them with delight They
came, pounded and sweated and
swore for two days, then gave up
and said the big section would be
here in a week or so and would
have to finish it, because their
light machinery couldn’t make any
headway, since in two days they
had penetrated into the bosom of
Mother Earth only about ten feet.
I have always contended that
everything on this earth is useful,
but I found out then that a dry
ten-foot hole, six inches in diam
eter, is, next to the politician, the
most nearly useless thing in or
on earth, so I covered the hole
with a board to keep the kittens
and the chickens from falling into
it and waited for the real-imple
ment for drilling to arrive. Weeks
went by, the spring went dry and
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The Commercial Bank of Banks
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Your Nearest Bank, Main Road to Portland
and we began tp sigh—“for water,
cool, clear water.” (Nice song.
Ever hear it?)
Then one day last week a huge
ungainly contraption rattled and
snorted across our front lawn—
digging nice skid-marks, pulling
up to the “politician hole” in the
ground and went to work. As we
had elected to dig the well about
five feet from my kitchen window
I got the full impact of every
thudding blow, as well as the ex
haust. The dishes danced merrily
to the outer edge of their shelves
and the hanging pots and pans
beat a xylophone accompaniment,
but it was sweet music to my
ears.
Now, what with a river at our
door, neighborhood wells that are
only twenty-five or thirty feet
deep, and streams of water here,
there and yonder, we assumed we
would hit water very quickly, but
decided loftily that we would go
down at least fifty feet and have
GOOD WATER.
Thud, thud,
bumpty-bang, rattle and clash, and
still the drill went down and
down and no water. Forty, fifty,
sixty feet, and still no water,
while every time the drill took a
foot of dirt out of the earth it
gouged four dollars out of our
bank account. I alternated be
tween picking up broken dishes
and figuring up the checking ac
count, and still that drill thun
dered further and further into the
dry earth. One hundred feet. The
Big Boss came in and said, “Will
it stand it?” I didn’t need to ask
what he meant by “it,” and an
swered grimly, "Old dear, at a
hundred feet something is going
to crack pretty soon, either wa
ter or1 the bank account”
Another ten feet and another
forty dollars out. The suspense
was getting terrific. Two feet
more (and eight bucks) then com
parative silence outside. I went
forth hopefully. The drillers were
examining a handful of fine, bro
ken rock-like stuff. Again the
thudding began, then suddenly a
trickle of water made its appear-
once in the depth of the hole. One
more foot, then two, and a broad
grin creased the old well-driller’s
face. Water, real honest-to-gosh
water, was pouring in, and at such
a rate that soon even I could see
it ripple and bubble in the narrow
earth-cylinder. Saved, saved, in
the nick of time. (Where have
I read that before?) I shut off
the washing machine, left my
laundry in the rinse, and galloped
joyfully up the hill to tell the
Big Boss that we wouldn’t have
to mortgage the ranch, sell our
bonds, nor would I have to take in
washing in order to pay for that
well. The well was wet before
our bank account was dry.
It is interesting to note how
many things can go into a well -
six inches in diameter and one
hundred and fifteen feet deep.
I figured my new kitchen linoleum,
a swagger winter coat and hat, a
lot of much-needed farm machin
ery, and a miscellaneous assort
ment of odds and ends had disap
peared into that hole in the ground.
Something like that is always
happening on a ranch. I know
of one case where a bunch of sick
animals swallowed up an entire
formal wedding, complete with six
bridesmaids and “black-tailed”
ushers, along with a high-priced
soprano shrieking .“O Promise
Me.” Aral I recall that four years
ago my complete winter outfit
became,, by some strange mystery
of change, an extension on the
horse-barn, while the Big Boss’
new suit and overcoat turned into
a young bull. P.ight now I am
planning upon attending the
Northwest Writers’ Conference the
last of this month and pretending
to be a writer. I keep thinking
how exciting and interesting I am
going to look with a one-hundred-
and-fifteen-foot well draped about
me, a la sarong, and wearing an
electric pump for a hat. I feel
I shall really create a sensation.
THE EAGLE, VERNONIA, ORE. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1946
O well, why gripe? That is a
part of ranch life. One does, I
imagine, get used to it after twen
ty-five or thirty years.
A new far-northern oil reserve
near Point Barrow, Alaska,' was
explored by Seabees as a war
project in 1944.
A “black rain’ that looked like
ink, fell in the Canadian town of
Erieau on the north shore of
lake Erie. The strange downpour
left roads, sidewalks, and houses
covered with black marks.
B. R. Stanfill
Plastering & Stucco
Contractor
Of that you can be positive when you fill your
grocery basket at King’s. Well known, accepted
brands of merchandise are displayed in abund-
ance at this popular food store.
KING’S Grocery - Market
“Where Your Money Buys More”
At the Mile Bridge
.
Riverview
HIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHXHlHIHIk
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FALL SPECIALS
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$1.25 H
BAMBOO LEAF RAKES .....
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FAMOUS HENRY DISSTON
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SPRING RAKE ................................ $2.75
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AERO-BARROW manufactured by the
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Langren Aircraft co....................... $25.00 H
Rubber tired. Made of Aluminum
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H SPADING FORKS ..................................$165
FENCE WIRE 39-inch
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20-rd. $12.00
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Woven Cattle Wire
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H POST HOLE
$3.10
and
$3.25
AUGURS
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$2.80 H
DIGGERS
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AGENTS
FOR ADVANCE PUMPS. BACKED H
BY YEARS OF SERVICE AND
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DEPENDABILITY
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HOFFMAN HARDWARE CO.
Phone 181
Vernonia
For Hardware — See Hoffman
A Reliable Place to Trade
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ALL WORK
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Vernonia